By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd) at the United Nations has restated the federal governments determination to restore peace in the country.
To this end, he said relevant institutions have been empowered to trace sources of funding of terrorist organisations in the country.
This is as he noted Nigeria’s willingness to work with all nations to ensure global security.
The NSA stated this at the ongoing Second United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of members states.
The meeting was convened by the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
He identified the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) as one of the bodies to trace the sources of funding of terrorist organizations.
General Monguno added that in recent past the President Muhammadu Buhari approved the establishment of the National Commission of the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons as well as National Commission for the Coordination of Cyber Security.
He noted that the international community must see the threat of terrorism to a particular country as a threat to global peace and security due to the complex nature of terrorism and other transnational organized crimes.
He said said terrorism has continued to manifest itself as vicious and relentless global threat, recognizing no border, nationality and all religions.
He noted that terrorism has become a contemporary weapon of violence for non-state actors in this era of globalization.
“I can say with total conviction that apart from pandemics, natural disasters and the climate itself, today the greatest threat to the existence of human race is the global scourge of terrorism” the NSA stated.
The NSA stated that preventing terrorist attacks, safe guiding borders, empowering national police, improving the criminal justice system, curbing elicit financial flows as well as hurting the abuse of drugs and hard substances remain extremely daunting challenges for most nations, including Nigeria in addressing the scourge of terrorism.
“The fallout of activities associated with jihadist and other forms of terror have collectively heightened insecurity in the greater part of African continent with serious economic, social and political implications for its people. In the North Eastern part of Nigeria, the activities of Boko Haram terrorists and the so called the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) with known affiliation to other international terror networks such as Daesh and Al-Qaeda have continued to undermine the security and livelihoods of the whole of the people, while at the same time overlapping into neighboring countries of the Lake Chad Basin”
The NSA noted that social media platforms have become instrument often leverage by terror groups to propagate their ideologies, recruit vulnerable youths, radicalize them and instill fear in the target community, as well as deflate the moral of defense and security forces.
He noted that the terrorist groups approach is to portray the government as incapable of guaranteeing the protection and well-being of the population.
The NSA noted that the Nigerian Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to confront these challenges by setting up new structures and national institutions as well as empowering them.
